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21 Indicted in New York CDL Scheme

Twenty-one people were indicted in New York on April 2 for paying individuals to fraudulently provide them with answers to written Commercial Driver’s License examinations administered by the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr. and New York State Inspector General Catherine Leahy Scott said all are charged with multiple counts of offering a false instrument for filing in the first degree and false statements, alterations or records or substitution in connection with an examination.

According to documents filed in court, between April and August 2013, the defendants paid as much as $4,000 to fraudulently receive answers to commercial driver’s license written examinations. It is claimed test takers took exam materials from the department of motor vehicle’s testing area, left the building, and handed the tests to complicit members of the scheme to fill in the correct responses. The completed exams were allegedly given back to registered test takers, who returned to the DMV testing area and submitted the exams for grading. Through this scheme, it is alleged the test takers were able to fraudulently earn endorsements.

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On September 26, 2013, Vance, Scott, and U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch announced the indictments of 19 defendants for their participation in the test-taking scheme, including eight ringleaders, eight test takers, and three security guards.

The latest indictments come as a continuation of that investigation, according to Vance’s office. Eight of the ten defendants charged by the Manhattan DA’s Office have already pleaded guilty.